Q: How is Putonghua (mandarin) in China today? Is Putonghua(mandarin) the only spoken and written language being used in mainland China?
The Han people have their own spoken and written languages, namely Chinese. It is the most commonly used language in China, and one of the most commonly used languages in the world. Many non-Chinese sometimes get the feeling that there is an unlimited number of Chinese characters. However, only about 3,000 characters are in common use, account for 99 percent of the total characters used in the written language, according to modern surveys. All China?s 55 minority peoples have their own languages except the Hui and Manchu, who use Chinese; 21 of these have their own script, in which 27 languages are written. Nowadays, classes in schools in predominantly national minority areas are taught in the local language, using local-language textbooks.
(china.org.cn November 5)
